IRAQ: At least 14 people killed in two bomb attacks as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stream into holy Iraqi city of Kerbala for key Shi'ite religious event

Record ID: 352544

  • Title: IRAQ: At least 14 people killed in two bomb attacks as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims stream into holy Iraqi city of Kerbala for key Shi'ite religious event
  • Date: 25th January 2011
  • Summary: WOMAN CARRYING PICTURE OF SHI'ITE IMAM SAYING "What can I say? Who put this (car bomb) here? The one who put it is one of us"
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq, Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAC8796AOEC1EJVCI5TS3W7X8O9
  • Story Text: Two bombs tore into crowds of pilgrims in the holy Iraqi Shi'ite city of Kerbala on Monday (January 24), raising the day's toll to at least 14 as hundreds of thousands of people streamed in for a religious rite.
    The first bomb exploded in a car park on the outskirts of the city where pilgrims taking part in the annual Arbain event had parked their vehicles, killing four people, according to Iraq's Deputy Health Minister Khamis al-Saad and security officials. Forty-nine were wounded, said Saad.
    A few hours later a second car bomb killed another 10, and wounded 92, around 10 km (six miles) north of Kerbala, Saad said.
    "It was parked here on the central reservation and we informed the army and the police and they came here and when they opened its door, the car went off. It exploded on the policemen. We evacuated wounded and dead people," said a Shi'ite pilgrim who was walking near scene when blast took place.
    The blasts occurred despite the deployment of 120,000 police and soldiers during Arbain, a major Shi'ite rite that has been regularly targeted by Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and other groups since the 2003 fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
    Iraq has been rocked by a series of blasts in recent days ahead of the culmination on Tuesday (January 25) of Arbain. More than 100 pilgrims, police recruits and police officers have been killed in an area ranging from Kerbala to the mainly Sunni areas north of Baghdad.
    The attacks pose a challenge to Iraqi security forces and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's newly appointed Shi'ite-led government as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw fully this year.
    Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the peak in 2006/07 of the sectarian carnage unleashed after the U.S.-led invasion. But bombings and shootings carried out by Sunni Islamist insurgents, groups allied to Saddam's former Baath party or Shi'ite militia continue on a daily basis.
    Many pilgrims in Kerbala seemed resigned to the threat.
    Arbain marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and a central figure of Shi'ite Islam. Imam Hussein was killed in a 7th Century battle and his followers believe he was buried in Kerbala.
    The annual Arbain pilgrimage draws hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Shi'ite Muslims from Iraq, neighbouring Iran and other Shi'ite communities in the Muslim world. Sunni Islamists like al Qaeda view Shi'ites as apostates.
    Shi'ite religious events were banned in Iraq under Saddam.
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